[Intro] [Fingerpicked acoustic guitar, spare, a little wind in the mix] [Soft hummed harmony, no words] [Verse 1] [Lead vocal, close and unhurried] The ponds are keeping yesterday in a skin we can’t break anymore The fields have finished talking and the dark comes early to the door Something older than a reason turns us toward the open air We don’t vote on the leaving we just notice who is already there [Chorus] [Add soft brushed drums and cello, two-part harmony on the last two lines] Take the point until your chest gives out then fall back in the quiet of the line Somebody’s calling so you don’t forget the work is shared, the weather isn't always kind We can’t see the water that we’re owed only the shoulder just ahead If you tire, you don’t apologise you slide inside the draft and begin again [Verse 2] [Lead vocal, a little more breath, harmony answers on “we answer”] The first one always pays for all of us the wind arrives unbroken on his face We answer so he hears he isn’t lost a low refrain that keeps a steady pace When one drops out we circle, not to scold just long enough to know which way he went No one finishes the distance alone no one is asked to mean the whole event [Chorus] [Fuller harmony, pedal steel enters quietly] Take the point until your chest gives out then fall back in the quiet of the line Somebody’s calling so you don’t forget the work is shared, the weather isn’t mine We can’t see the water that we’re owed only the shoulder just ahead If you tire, you don’t apologise you slide inside the draft and begin again [Bridge] [Strip back to guitar and voice, then harmonies bloom on the last two lines] Summer isn’t faithless when it ends it just runs out of what it came to spend We learned the map by doing it again not by standing still and calling it a plan The young ones ask how far, we only say far enough that morning finds us warm Keep the shape, and trust the ones who turn they’ve carried colder nights than this before [Final Chorus] [Full band, three-part harmony, a little lift but not a shout] Take the point until your chest gives out then fall back where the lifting air is kind Somebody’s calling so you don’t forget you were never meant to lead the whole design We can’t see the water that we’re owed only the dark decreasing up ahead If you tire you don’t apologise you slide inside the draft and begin again
